3 Full Best Explanations Learning Chinese Characters Improve Brain Intelligence

 

Although most adults use the left brain when learning a language, the learning and use of another language is actually a whole-brain exercise. Some scholars have observed the language ability of patients with brain injury and found that the left hemisphere is damaged, which not only destroys the language ability but also damages the abstract ability of logical analysis. The injury in the right hemisphere does not have much impact on vocabulary skills but has significant obstacles in understanding and reasoning. Language and spatial perception are respectively governed by the left and right hemispheres, but high-level brain functions such as abstract reasoning thinking, logical analysis, and other abilities are shared by the two hemispheres.

Studies have shown that using multiple languages ​​can increase the density of gray matter in the brain. Gray matter is where a large number of neurons gather, and its main function is to receive and process brain information. Using multiple languages ​​can activate multiple different brain regions at the same time. This brain exercise can enhance memory and even delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Studies have shown that multilingual speakers can reduce the switching cost during task switching, and therefore can more effectively complete multiple tasks within the time limit.

Stroop task has been used to study the brain concentration of multilingual ability. In this test and another similar test, the Flanker task, multilingual ability people perform better than monolingual ability testers.

Since learning a new foreign language has so many advantages, which language should you choose?

Here I recommend everyone to opt for learning Chinese characters and language. Acquiring Chinese in this day and age promises dramatic results. 

The real question is, why shouldn’t you learn Chinese?

Some people may share different opinions on learning the language for how hard it supposedly is. But the truth is, of all the things you can do with your spare time, learning Mandarin Chinese is one of the absolute best investments you can make. Whether you’re looking for a new academic pursuit, new career skills, or a new perspective on life, there are few activities likely to have the same huge payoff, and most importantly, it improves your brain intelligence greatly.

So don’t just take my word for it—read on and discover why you really should be dropping everything and learning Chinese characters! 

Learning Chinese characters brings you various benefits

Before I talk about how Chinese is different from other languages, I will let you know some general benefits you can get from learning Chinese. 

Communicate with over 1 billion people instantly

As we mentioned, Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. Anywhere you travel or live on Earth, you can easily spot a fellow Chinese speaker around you. Learning Chinese will instantly open up communication abilities to over 1.2B people and this number is growing quickly.

Open up new job opportunities everywhere

The ability to communicate to over one billion people has major value in the job marketplace. Of course, this includes companies in China and other Mandarin-speaking countries that you can apply to.

Companies all around the world are striving to tap into the Chinese marketplace. And you’ll immediately differentiate yourself by being able to speak Chinese.

Appreciate Chinese food as you’ve never had before

Love dim sum, wontons, fried rice, all delicious exotic Chinese food? So do we.

When it comes to evaluating the quality of Chinese restaurants, the number one signal is to observe how much English is on the menu. The less it is, the more authentic the food may be. 

With that said, if you truly want to order with confidence at a Chinese restaurant, you’d need to learn Chinese.

Gain a competitive advantage in the business world

Beyond just gaining a leg up in your career, learning Chinese is just smart for business. Whether you’re a business owner yourself or looking to get into business, the future of business will be in China. Whether you like it or not, China is the first place any great business will look to if they want to go international.

This is your opportunity to jump ahead of the curve! 

Build stronger relationships with your Chinese co-workers and friends

From college friends to co-workers, you’ll be very likely to have a native Chinese speaker in your life. If not, you’re about to have one soon.

While English is widely taught and spoken amongst Chinese speakers, few can actually speak it with confidence. It’s going to be many decades before the majority of Chinese speakers can speak your language, and that’s being conservative. Beyond the relationships you can form in real life, there’s even a greater need in the online space. Unlike other countries, the Chinese government places strict regulations on letting consumers use non-Chinese applications.

Examples include using Youku instead of YouTube, Wechat instead of WhatsApp, and social networks like Facebook are not available for use.

Enjoy Chinese movies, TV shows, and music authentically

With production companies like Alibaba Pictures, Tencent Pictures, and more coming into the global scene, Chinese entertainment is accelerating at a rapid pace. This is growing faster with the advent of distribution channels like Netflix and Prime Video.

While subtitles exist for Chinese movies and TV shows, translations may not always make sense directly, especially if you love Chinese web novels. If you want to authentically enjoy these entertainment forms at their highest quality, your best bet is to learn the language.

Travel with confidence anywhere (not just China)

Planning to travel to Asia sometime soon? That’s right, learning Chinese is what will help you get around easily. Even if you don’t plan to travel to a country where Mandarin is an official language, people from China are always visiting and migrating there.

You’ll also find that signs, menus, and other communication are provided with Chinese translations everywhere you go in Asia to accommodate the millions of Chinese travelers.

Learning Chinese characters and language is not as hard as you think

But don’t let that intimidate you. Despite the difference in Chinese characters, most people overestimate how difficult it is to learn. Yes, there are challenges to learning Chinese. The biggest is probably because while English uses phonetic writing, Chinese is composed of pictograms and semi-phonetic ideograms.

The good news is, this is the hardest thing about Chinese. There are also things you don’t have to learn, like tenses, cases, genders, or other simple grammar which are essential for most other languages.

Given how much time a new language learner normally spends on learning genders, tenses, and other grammar rules, you’ll bypass all of that when you decide to learn Chinese.

There are more Chinese learning resources than ever

Perhaps, more importantly, are the resources available to you. With Chinese being the most spoken language in the world, it also comes with powerful learning options.

‍Pandanese, as an example, connects you with real professional native-speaking Chinese teachers from the comforts of your home. In just a few clicks, you can connect via a live 1-on-1 Mandarin lesson with a teacher who will personalize your learning experience. It’s like having a best friend to help you speak Chinese with confidence.

Then there are free apps like YouTube videos and podcasts that you can immerse yourself in between your lessons. It’s never been easier to learn a new language like Chinese.

Learning Chinese Characters Improves Your Brain Development

Besides the above advantages learning Chinese brings to you. The most important benefit is that Learning Chinese Characters will improve your intelligence and brain development. It can help you become a better and smarter person!

Chinese has a distinctively different effect on the brain

If you speak Chinese, your brain works differently from others. That’s according to a recent study published in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences. The different result is because Chinese speakers use tones to distinguish different words and their meanings. The report is the first to conclude that Chinese speakers exhibit a very different flow of information during speech comprehension. The Chinese tones, sounds, and scripts require the use of both hemispheres of the brain rather than just the left, which has long been seen as the primary neurological region for processing language.

Learning Chinese improves brain intelligence and image thinking

Chinese can make people smarter in the most basic second language and can also improve the brain’s image thinking.

A study from New Zealand found that “native Chinese and English speakers treat numbers with different cortical parts of the brain.” It also concluded that different language systems such as Chinese and English shape the way non-language information is processed. In more than six years, this joint research has shown that, unlike Roman phonetic characters, Chinese characters help the brain’s image thinking training.

Improve the ability of the brain to process information

Another experiment, which started in 1996, tested 200 European and Chinese students of the same educational level. They were asked to recite a series of numbers, letters, and colors. The results show that Chinese students far outperform European students in terms of memory. Chinese students seem to be better at processing information than European students.

Learning to handwrite Chinese characters make you smarter

By aiding in the development of motor skills, learning shapes and letters, and the visual identification of graphics, learning handwriting in Chinese also seems to make you smarter. Unlike English, which is mostly linear and written from left to right, Chinese characters have a complex structure. Writing characters involves strokes in several directions with sequential movements. These movements activate neural activity in the working, thinking, and spatial memory of the brain.

Evidence also indicates that learning Chinese makes you better at math. Researchers from New Zealand observed that children whose native language is Chinese appear to gain a greater understanding of mathematical concepts than their English-speaking counterparts. During the natural acquisition process of Chinese, the student is learning and reinforcing basic mathematical concepts. Character writing involves skills such as counting, grouping, ordering, and identifying similarities and differences, which are essentially math skills.

Chinese may train a host of cognitive abilities not utilized in the study of other languages

New evidence also suggests that learning Chinese may train a host of cognitive abilities not utilized in the study of other languages.

The research on cognition and Chinese language learning is not comprehensive or exhaustive, it does suggest that the cognitive benefits of learning Chinese are significant and merit further study.

Chinese can speed up the reaction of English speakers

A recent scientific study has shown that learning Chinese can speed up the reaction of English speakers. A six-year study conducted by scientists from Germany and China showed that the brains of Chinese people react faster than Europeans. And for those who are learning Mandarin—including Mark Zuckerberg and Prince William—you may notice that your brains are getting just a little bit faster and working harder to crack this new difficult-to-learn language.

Conclusion

Learning Chinese characters can help people across all age groups gain advantages and greatly benefit their brain development. Especially, children can benefit from learning Chinese early on during cognitive development that helps with particular skill sets relating to brain intelligence.

Learning a language is always good for the brain. But Chinese as a language is even greater for brain development, making it an outstanding competitor to other languages.